The United States has given its first indication that more defence spending by Australia would strengthen the 62-year-old security alliance between the two countries after a Labor era of cost-cutting.

Outgoing US ambassador to Australia
Jeff Bleich
appeared to affirm Prime Minister-elect
Tony Abbott
’s election pledge to increase planned defence spending when he suggested that while the US was bearing a “disproportionate" share of the global security burden, “the more partners that can work with us and lighten our load, the more sustainable our efforts will be’’.

Mr Bleich’s comments follow Mr Abbott’s election pledge to boost Australia’s defence spending to 2 per cent of gross domestic product within 10 years – a target that would see spending rise an average $3.5 billion a year.

“We are confident that Australia today, as it has throughout history, will be one of our best partners in doing this and I think [for] all of our partners, having increased capacity, sharing the burden will also improve their own confidence, their own flexibility, their own capabilities and that’s good for everyone,’’ Mr Bleich said in a departing address at the National Press Club after four years in the post.

But Mr Bleich stressed he did not want to get into a debate over “where Australia’s defence budget is today as opposed to a year ago’’.

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Mr Bleich said the US believed Australia would continue to be a strong alliance partner under Mr Abbott, and he agreed with Mr Abbott’s proposition of being an “Asia-first Prime Minister’’ because the US shared an increased focus on Asia and the pledge did not in anyway diminish the alliance.

Mr Abbott’s commitment came after the former Labor government cut or deferred $25 billion in defence spending between 2009 and 2012, and spending fell to its lowest level in GDP terms since 1938.

In this year’s budget the Labor government increased spending slightly but it still remains below 2009 real spending levels

Cuts criticised

The Labor cuts were criticised by some current and former US administration officials, including the most senior US military commander in the Asia Pacific, Admiral Samuel Locklear, former Obama administration assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific, Kurt Campbell, and former Bush administration deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage.

The US is cutting its defence budget by more than $900 billion in the wake of the financial crisis and US President
Barack Obama
has made it clear it expects more from its allies.

Mr Bleich also said he believed the doubts Australians had about the future of the US-Australia alliance in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis had receded.

“When I first arrived in Canberra [in 2009] there were serious questions about the US-Australia alliance,’’ Mr Bleich said.

“Could the United States meet the rising demands of this region, or would it recede or even be fenced out by the rising powers?’’ he asked rhetorically.

He said the narrative about his country had been pessimistic – the US had been considered bogged down in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and there were challenging questions about whether Washington was in permanent decline.

Both Washington and Canberra had become more deeply engaged through the US strategic rebalancing towards the region and had forged stronger bilateral security, defence and investment ties.

“When our confidence was ebbing, we rededicated ourselves to the alliance . . . and have updated and modernised every single element of our partnership,’’ he said.

The comments came as Mr Abbott on Wednesday met Defence secretary Dennis Richardson, Defence Force chief David Hurley and vice-chief Mark Binskin and the service chiefs to discuss the government’s national security agenda.